Adapted from Philip Pullman’s award-winning trilogy of the same name, His Dark Materials follows Lyra (Dafne Keen) Belacqua, a seemingly ordinary but brave young woman from another world.
Since its debut on 5 November on HBO GO and HBO (Astro Ch 411 / 431 HD), the fantasy series has been hit with audiences. Keen is at the forefront of His Dark Materials with her portrayal of Lyra and her search for a kidnapped friend, which eventually unearths a sinister plot involving stolen children, leading her on a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust.
In this interview, keen talks about her character, the source material and the making of the series.
So who
is Lyra?
Lyra is a very curious, cunning, and adventurous
girl. She’s very intelligent, street smart, and just brilliant. I love her.
She’s a tomboy, definitely. When we first meet her she is racing with her best
friend, Roger and she’s a ball of energy. Then, that changes. She’s still
energetic, but she grows darker by the end of the show. The thing that most
describes Lyra for me is a line that Ma Costa says in the books. When Lyra says
something about her wanting to be a Gyptian she says, “You’re not a
Gyptian Lyra. Gyptians are water people and you’re marsh fire.” That’s the
thing that described Lyra for me the most.
How did you feel when you got the role?
It most certainly was nerve-wracking. I was like, “Oh my God, so many people have read the books and love Lyra.” Every time I go somewhere and people know I’m playing Lyra they’re like, “She’s the role model of my childhood.” It’s very nerve-wracking thinking you’ve got to live up to everyone’s expectation of being their role model.
For
someone who’s never read the books, what would you say His Dark Materials is about?
It’s about growing up I think. It’s about growing
up because even though it’s decorated with fantasy and stuff, it’s really the
story of a child turning into a woman. In book one, there’s this whole thing of
the system trying to rip us of our souls and our personality, which is what
dæmons represent. The whole thing is not necessarily a criticism of the system,
but it is asking questions.
Why
do you think the novels have proved so popular and enduring?
They are very easy to connect with I think. It’s a
youth book. When I was reading it, you can really imagine that you’re Lyra and
that you’re living her adventure and it’s very gripping. But it’s intelligent
fun. It’s not like just, “I’m really tired, let’s just read this.”
It’s like you have to put in the effort. You give a little bit and you get much more
from reading it.
What
or who is the Magisterium?
Well, that’s the thing. You don’t really understand
it, but they are sort of like the body of the church, like the government; they
do horrible things. They kill: they basically rip people’s souls out, which
isn’t very nice. Yes, they’re not very great figures, I’d say. But I think they
really believe that that’s the right thing. They think that original sin is
wrong, that Dust is bad, that dæmons don’t help. I really think they’re trying
to do it for the greater good. So they are bad in our eyes, but not in their
eyes because they think they’re doing the right thing.
Can
you explain what a dæmon is?
A dæmon is your soul. It’s an expression of your
soul and when you’re a child, it changes because you’re still changing. It then
fixes when you’re an adult into what most represents your personality. Lyra is
a kid so her dæmon still changes, but it’s mostly an ermine and his name is
Pantalaimon.
Is
Pan in any way different to Lyra or just an extension of her?
He’s a bit different to her because obviously your
soul is more responsible and wiser than you. Lyra’s like, “Woo, let’s jump
off a roof.” Pan’s like, “No, don’t. You’re going to die.” He’s
more responsible than her, but they are pretty similar.
What
was the hardest part for you when filming with dæmons?
It’s when you have to hold the ermine, definitely,
and they’re like, “No, your palm has to be bigger than that” and
you’re like, “Why? It’s fine.” They’ll say, “No… bigger… more
space, less space.” You have to remember it perfectly for when you shoot.
That was really hard.
Were
there some real animals involved in filming?
Yes. We had a gecko. We had a few dogs. We had one
dog that we eventually had to CGI out because it looked into the camera and
smiled! That didn’t go well. We also had
a snake and Milo, Farder Coram’s cat. He was brilliant.
Is
it true Lin-Manuel Miranda is always singing?
Yes, he does sing, but I also sing so we were always singing together. Every
time Lin turned around and we were in the air balloon, me and Lewin [Lloyd]
would sing Hamilton because we were too embarrassed to sing it to his face. I
love Ruth too, she’s brilliant. Doing scenes with her is so fun. She’s very
psychopathic and then she’s really nice in real life, so it’s cool!
Catch the finale of His Dark Materials as the critically-acclaimed fantasy show comes to an epic conclusion on Tuesday, December 24, at 10am exclusively on HBO GO and HBO (Astro Ch 411 / 431 HD), with a same day encore at 10pm on HBO
